As we saw in the Briarwood Elementary School reports, the problem isn’t just the code. The bigger problem is enforcement. IBHS knows this, which is why their “Fortified” program requires inspections during construction. It isn’t clear that Moore knows this.

I have no problem with fortifying construction in Moore, but it is unclear that any building could have withstood the kind of winds in this tornado. I actually lived there several years ago and we had all kinds of warnings during the spring and summer months. We moved to Texas in the middle 70’s and some years later, a tornado wiped out the neighborhood I lived in there. They don’t call it Tornado Alley for nothing. A lot of people up there have tornado cellars for good reason. Oklahoma people are very resilient and they will recover from this.

Insulating Concrete Form homes are the only thing that survives these powerful tornadoes. A Concrete home with a concrete roof system can do quite well, plus protect the occupants from “shrapnel” damage when the other homes are being torn apart. Those 2X6s, etc. simply become missiles. Very scary. I am sure the occupants would not mind the energy savings and high fire ratings that come along as standard as well…